


Put a Label On It

by Kai517_TeenWriter



Category: Tangled (2010), Tangled: The Series (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Co-Ladies-In-Waiting, F/M, Slow To Update, prince!varian
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-18 23:30:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14224194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kai517_TeenWriter/pseuds/Kai517_TeenWriter
Summary: As the prince of Old Corona, Varian is expected to meet and marry royalty. But he soon finds that his heart has been stolen by Cassandra, the mysterious daughter of the captain of the Saporian guard.





	1. Chapter One

Varian admired himself in the mirror before pulling a mask over his face. He took a step back, nearly tripping over Ruddiger. The raccoon chittered indignantly.

"I'm sorry, Ruddy," Varian said, leaning down to mess the critter's fur, "I'd better watch my step, huh?"

"Varian? Who are you talking to?"

"Nobody, Mother."

"Are you almost ready?"

"Yeah, I'm almost done," he called back, "just-- just go on without me. I'll catch up later."

He sighed, sitting on the edge of his bed. "This could quite possibly be it, Rud."

Ruddiger chittered, but not at Varian. No, he was intently focused on an owl just outside the window. The owl was quite plain by most standards, but something about the creature intrigued Varian.

Despite the bitter cold, he opened the window and gently stroked the owl. Below, a figure, wearing a dark cloak, darted out of the woods.

Quickly, Varian hid behind a curtain, glancing out at the shadowy figure. The figure reached up to remove their hood... Revealing a beautiful young woman.

She had short, chin-length hair the color of the night, contrasting her fair, pale skin. Her eyes were narrow, but in the moonlight, Varian could see flecks of hazel, even from three stories up.

The owl hooted softly, flying down toward the mystery girl. He landed on her shoulder and hooted again. She looked up at the window.

"I know you're up there, whoever you are," she called up, "show yourself."

Varian hesitated before shyly peeking out from behind the curtains. "Um... Hey there."

He nervously scratched the back of his head as he stared down at this girl, all dressed in black and standing among the trees and bushes, which were all laden in snow.

There was a certain feel to what he was looking at.

It almost felt like... Magic.

Varian pushed the thought aside. There was no such thing as magic. But this mysterious woman had appeared almost out of nowhere. There was no denying her beauty, how it entranced him... How it, for lack of better terms, cast a spell over him.

"Who are you?" the girl asked, frowning.

"I-- I'm Varian," he replied.

"Varian... Like... Like the prince?"

"Uh... Yeah. And who might you be, milady?"

She scowled up at him. "None of your business."

Something about her attitude, quite possibly what was supposed to offend or intimidate him, only fascinated him even further.

"I'll be the one asking questions around here, capisce?"

Varian didn't quite understand what the word 'capisce' meant, but he readily repeated it.

She nodded curtly. "Good, then."

With her owl still on her shoulder, she turned and left as suddenly as she had come.

* * *

After the strange encounter, Varian rushed to get ready. He checked himself in the mirror once more before rushing out into the warm hallway and running full-speed downstairs, towards the ballroom.

He arrived within less than three minutes, sweaty and panting for breath. A few servants came over, bombarding him with help. Finally, they deemed him 'fit' to enter the grand ballroom.

Everything-- the lively music and friendly conversations-- died down when the big French double doors opened, revealing the young prince. Everyone-- except for the king and queen-- knelt down on one knee, but Varian could've cared less.

No, things like this, meant to symbolize honor and respect, only embarrassed Varian. Usually, he just ran down the stairs as fast as he possibly could. He would do anything if it meant he could escape all the attention, all the knees bowed out of respect to him.

But something told him to hang on, to scan the crowd; observe everything he could.

His parents expected him to find potential suitors that night, so it only seemed polite to break habit, just this once, to take it all in. All of the dark black suits, the dresses of almost any color you could imagine. And the masks, matching the color schemes of the outfits...

His eyes landed on a young woman in a far back corner. She wore a shiny golden gown and mask-- a color that nobody else had chosen-- and she smiled sweetly.

He made his way down the stairs, towards his parents.

"Father," he said, nodding his head in a curt manner.

"Son."

"Mother."

She smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Varian."

"Who-- who is that?" Varian asked, pointing at the young woman in the corner, "do you-- do you know?"

Queen Ellianna glanced at where her son was pointing, and her brow furrowed. "I-- I don't know. Why don't you go find out?"

Varian just nodded and walked off to go meet her.

* * *

Varian was almost positive that this girl, the one hiding in the corner, was his mystery girl from earlier, and he was determined to get to know more about her.

He had to dodge tons of people, mostly girls who were interested in getting to know him and possibly get to have a chance with him. But he was laser-focused on his mystery girl.

"Excuse me," he said once he finally reached her, "um, hey there..."

She turned away like he was invisible. He sighed before reaching out to tap her on the shoulder. She turned back to face Varian.

"Yes?"

"Um, hey... Hi."

"Hi."

They both stood awkwardly, staring at each other. There was a brief second in which Varian's eyes darted away quickly, finding his parents.

His mother motioned with her hand-- kind of twirling it around.

_Dance._

"So, um..." he tried, "um... May I... May I have this dance? Perhaps? Maybe, maybe not...?"

He turned a deep, dark red. Of course, he was making a fool of himself, as he always did. How could he be a good prince, a good leader, if he could hardly even talk to a mysterious but beautiful young woman? Urgh...

"Fine. It's not like I've got anything better to do."

He was stunned: he had never expected her to agree. Knowing her as much as he did-- which wasn't much, but still-- he had expected her to laugh at him, at his complete awkwardness and inability to socialize. But... No. She had said "fine."

Finally, he regained his senses, and he led her onto the dance floor.


	2. Chapter Two

"I didn't catch your name."

"Well, I didn't throw it."

Silence.

And then Varian started laughing. "You know, I admire a girl with a sense of humor like yours, miss."

The girl groaned and rolled her eyes.

"But... Seriously. What is your name?"

"Fine. You want to know my name?" she blurted out, exasperated, "my name's Cassandra. You happy?"

Varian, unable to sense her agitation, smiled. "Yes, Cassandra."

He liked that name-- the way that it seemed to just roll off his tongue, almost as if he was meant to speak her name, the way that it seemed to fit her perfectly for whatever reason.

Cassandra.

"You didn't tell me you were actually the prince," she muttered softly.

"I-- I thought I did."

"I asked you what your name was. You said your name was Varian. I asked, 'Varian, like the prince?' and you responded 'yeah.'"

"As in, 'yeah, I am the prince.'"

"You could've clarified that," she snapped, "by saying 'yeah' to my previous question, you left it at 'yeah, I've got the same name as the prince.'"

Cassandra was starting to get agitated and Varian had no idea why. Why did it mean that much to her?

But he decided it was best not to bug her about it.

"So... I've never seen you around," he tried, "the few times I've been out to Old Corona village, well, I've... I've never seen you."

"I'm not from around here," she replied shortly, "so... Of course you've never seen me around here."

Varian just nodded. As much as he wanted to know where she actually did come from, he had decided it might be best to keep his distance. At least, to keep his distance whenever he was around Cassandra.

He studied her, trying to figure out where she might be from. She carried herself almost... Almost like a kingdom guard. There were very few kingdoms surrounding Old Corona, kingdoms that Varian was too lazy to try remembering at the moment.

He knew now that she wasn't from Old Corona, but the other kingdom that came to mind right away was... No. She couldn't be Saporian.

"So... Cassandra," he said, again enjoying how her name sounded, "what... What do you do for fun?"

She looked at him in disbelief. "Fun?"

"Yeah."

He didn't get why she was looking at him like that-- like he had grown a second head or something. But, then again, he didn't get a lot of things about women, this one in particular.

"I'll let you in on a secret, kid," she said, "I don't have time for fun. I'm a busy person, and 'fun' isn't on my list of priorities."

Having grown up a prince, Varian understood being a busy person, but... No time for fun? His parents-- or, more often than not, just his mother-- would set aside their work in order to play with him. And if they didn't, he could have fun with Ruddiger.

But... This girl, Cassandra, claimed that she didn't have time for fun. Was there a job on Earth that was busier than being a royal? Almost constantly being trained for the day when he would become king, but still getting to take time for fun... Varian couldn't imagine another job that could possibly be busier or crazier.

"Okay, then... Tell me about yourself."

Cassandra scowled, and Varian got the hint that he wasn't making anything better. He wanted to continue talking with her, but she kept on blocking him out... Not cool.

As he mentally stumbled, trying to reach for the right thing to say, trying to find a good conversation starter, he was knocked to the floor.

He landed hard on his butt. It hurt really bad, and he had to fight back the urge to let even a tear slip. These people here... They were all here for him, and he would not show them this side of him. Not in public. And, plus, maybe Cassandra liked people who could survive their butts getting whammed by the floor without crying.

He looked around and was embarrassed to see that every eye was trained on him.

He also spotted what must've knocked him to the floor: Ruddiger the raccoon.

Varian clenched his fists and his teeth, trying to ignore the pain shooting through his body.

"Here," a soft voice said, and a hand reached down to the young prince, "let me help you up."

Varian looked up, surprised to see that his mysterious helper was... Cassandra.

Why was she offering to help him?

He shrugged it off, taking her hand and letting her help him up.


	3. Chapter Three

"Varian, what did you think of everyone?" Elliana asked her son the next morning at breakfast, "did any of the princesses catch your eye?"

Varian looked at his mother warily, debating about whether or not to talk about the mysterious Cassandra. He had stayed up late into the night because of the dance and party itself, and when he had gone to bed, he had found that sleep was fleeting. And that Cass was stuck in his head, for better or for worse.

Everything about her just seemed so alluring... He couldn't help but be captivated by her.

"That one princess from Antipe," he finally said, "she... She got my attention."

Honestly, she was the only one that he really remembered. Not saying that she wasn't worthy of being noticed or anything... It's just that everything was a blur.

"Ah, yes," Quirin agreed, "she's a beauty, that Princess Felicity."

Varian impaled a grape with his fork, trying his hardest to remember what Princess Felicity looked like, how she acted, anything about her... But nothing came to mind. Just blurs. Blurs and Cassandra.

He nodded, taking the grape off his fork and popping it into his mouth. "Uh... Yeah, she was," he allowed, trying his hardest to sound convincing, "indeed. Thank heavens the final decision doesn't have to be made for quite awhile, right?"

Ellianna and Quirin exchanged a glance.

"Well, son," Ellianna started slowly, "about that... We've been talking."

Varian heaved a sigh. Those words never meant anything good was coming his way.

"You're almost eighteen," she continued, "it would be... Wise. Yes, that's the word. It would be wise of you to choose one of the princesses from any neighboring kingdom now. Then you will get to know them- hopefully in the shortest time possible- and make the final decision. That would be best. Especially if we want to carry out law and tradition."

Varian dropped his fork, staring at his parents in shock. "You're kidding me."

Quirin shook his head. "We're afraid not, son."

"I- is there a deadline, then?" Varian asked, "a time limit?"

"Sometime within the next half year," Quirin stated simply, "and don't tell me that I'm being impossible or unfair. I was given three months for the same thing; I'm being more than generous to you."

"But... You expect me to choose a girl- based only on interactions from last night- for myself to marry? Within six months?"

"Others have done it in a much shorter time," Ellianna put in gently, trying to reassure her son, "it's not impossible-"

"Those are other people!" Varian burst out, "they're not me!"

"It shouldn't be too terribly hard," his father admonished him, "there are only about... What? Seven of them or so? Let's see... Equis. Antipe. Dionda. Hervan. East Tal. Skaron. The land of Yultadore..."

"That would be it," Ellianna said.

Quirin nodded, satisfied that he had named and counted all of the kingdoms correctly. Ellianna looked at her son, offering a comforting smile.

"Don't worry, Varian," she said softly, "you've already made great headway, by the looks of it. You really seemed to get along with the princesses from Antipe, Dionda, and Hervan."

Names came back to him, but they didn't mean too much.

Felicity of Antipe.

Katrielle of Dionda.

Hailey of Hervan.

He vaguely remembered the names and the hair colors- blond, brown, and auburn- but nothing else. Nothing about their personalities. Nothing about their customs or qualities or beliefs...

Were they nice? Did they listen to his stories and tell some of their own? Did they seem to have a genuine interest in him- not because he was the heir to Old Corona, but because he was Varian?

They must have, if his mother said that she thought they had gotten along.

Something about this entire business made Varian kind of sad, though. Not just because he wanted his freedom. But... He had to choose a wife. In six months. And they were all going to be like open books around him. Same story. Same intents. Nothing deep and personal for him to learn. He wanted to get to know these girls and their stories, but he might only ever get to know as much as they had let on the night before- if anything at all. No personal connections. Just... Just the surface. And Varian yearned for a personal connection, one that nobody else seemed to have.

Something that was his and his alone.

This was only part of the reason why he hated being a prince.

And it was also part of the reason as to why he was so drawn to Cassandra. He could tell that she had a good heart- after all, she did help him back up after his best friend tripped him- and a brave soul, but she was practically an enigma, a mystery wrapped in a mystery shrouded in darkness.

He wanted to uncover the clues. He wanted to solve the mystery. Oh, he wanted to... So bad.

But, as far as he was aware, she wasn't a princess. Everyone expected him to marry a princess from a neighboring kingdom.

Heck, he didn't even know that much about her... Just her name and her looks. (And the fact that she was pretty secretive. Never forget that). Nothing about where she came from, or her family. Nothing about anything.

Just then, though, the door to the dining room opened and in stepped three ladies: one with blond hair, a brunette, and another sporting auburn locks. Each of them wore similar-looking gowns in emerald green, chocolate, and an icy blue. As he looked closer, Varian noticed that the dresses matched their eye colors exactly.

And, though they were dressed differently, he recognized them immediately as Felicity, Katrielle, and Hailey.

"Mom? Dad?" he asked through a forced smile, "a word, please?"

"Excuse us for a minute," Ellianna said, standing up, "you can sit and eat, if you want."

And she and Quirin followed their son out of the room and into the hall.

"What are they doing here?" Varian asked, "I... Are you guys trying to drive me insane?"

Quirin put a firm hand on his shoulder, looking at him sternly. "We know how you feel about... Personal connections. Lucky for you, these three were able to stay after last night. It should make it easier for you to build the bond or bonds that you need within the next six months."

This seemed even worse than the original plan, whatever that was. He now had to try reading into three backstories- if any of the girls even had one beyond what the public already knew- at once, all while trying to maintain a relationship with each...

"It's all for the best, Varian," Ellianna murmured, "the sooner this is over, the better. For all of us. And then we can continue with our regular lessons and sessions."

Varian didn't really want to argue with his mother. So, instead, he just nodded, pasted a friendly smile on his face, and went back into the dining hall.


End file.
